


Strategic Withdrawal

by telperion_15



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-11-06
Updated: 2010-11-06
Packaged: 2017-10-13 02:13:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/131688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/telperion_15/pseuds/telperion_15
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin might have accidentally let slip something he shouldn't have.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strategic Withdrawal

**Author's Note:**

> Written for mini_nanowrimo on LiveJournal, from the prompt Merlin/Arthur, trust.
> 
> Also, my first time writing in the Merlin fandom.

Merlin dashed into Arthur’s chambers, pushed the heavy wooden door closed behind him, and then leaned against it, panting.

“Do you trust me?” he asked, between breaths.

“What _are_ you talking about, Merlin?” responded Arthur, looking rather more than annoyed at having his lunch interrupted.

“Do you trust me?” Merlin repeated.

“Not in the slightest.” But when Merlin gave him a look, Arthur rolled his eyes, and conceded tetchily, “Well, maybe a little bit.”

“In that case, you won’t question me when I tell you we have to hide.”

“Hide? Merlin, I swear, if you don’t explain to me what’s going on this minute, you’ll end up with this water jug on your head!”

“Morgana _might_ have found out who put that frog in her jewellery casket as a joke the other day.”

“What?” Arthur’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “And how exactly did she find that out, Merlin?”

“That’s not important,” Merlin evaded quickly. “What’s important is that she’s on her way to see you right now, and she’s _not_ happy. That’s why we need to hide.”

“I’m pretty sure I can handle Morgana in a snit…”

“ _Arthur!_ ”

The screech echoed through the castle, unmuffled by solid stone walls and thick wooden doors. A sudden look of panic crossed Arthur’s face.

“We’ll hide,” he agreed.

*~*~*~*~*

Arthur’s bed was large, as befitted a prince of the realm, but there still wasn’t _that_ much space under it, and Merlin found himself pressed up against Arthur as the pair of them peered out through the draperies. The position wasn’t the most comfortable in the world, but it was intimate, and Merlin could feel himself reacting to Arthur’s nearness.

 _Oh no, not now._

“Gwen said Morgana screamed when the frog jumped out at her,” he whispered, trying to take his mind off it. “And she was extra annoyed when it landed on her and left a trail of slime on her favourite dress.”

“Merlin, shut _up_ ,” Arthur hissed, just as the chamber door opened again and Morgana strode in.

“Arthur Pendragon, are you in here?” she demanded. She sounded _really_ angry.

Arthur put a finger to his lips, as if Merlin needed reminding not to make a sound.

“Arthur?” Morgana was crossing the room now, the deep purple hem of her gown swishing and her shoes clicking loudly against the floor as she stomped towards them, and then stopped about a foot away from their noses, next to the bed.

Merlin held his breath. Any moment now she would think to look under the bed, and then they’d be doomed.

But Morgana just stood there for a moment longer, and then sighed loudly before walking the way she had come. “When I find you, Arthur, you are going to be in _deep_ trouble,” she muttered, and then left, the door thudding loudly as she pulled it shut behind her with more force than Merlin had thought her capable of.

They waited a moment or two longer, just to be sure, and then crawled out. Merlin sneezed loudly a couple of times as he realised that what seemed to be half the castle’s dust had found its way up his nose, and vowed to sweep under Arthur’s bed at the earliest opportunity.

Then he looked up and realised that Arthur was staring at him, eyebrows raised.

“Well?” Arthur asked.

“Well what?”

“How _did_ Morgana find out it was me?”

“Ah.” Merlin glanced around quickly, looking for an escape route. But Arthur was standing between him and the door, and he wasn’t sure if he could use his magic to protect himself if he jumped out of the window.

“Merlin…”

There was no escape. “I might have, er, accidentally let slip that it was you,” he confessed. “But I didn’t mean to!”

“You never mean to, Merlin,” Arthur sighed. Then he smiled, in a way that made Merlin rather nervous. “Well, you’ll just have to make it up to me, won’t you?”

“Make it up to you?” Merlin suddenly realised that Arthur’s eyes were now focused on a point somewhat below his face, and he blushed. Nearly facing the wrath of Morgana, and then all the sneezing, hadn’t really done much to quell his ‘reaction’, which was now rather obvious.

“You’re not the only one, Merlin,” Arthur told him, and it took a couple of seconds for Merlin to work out what he was saying.

“Oh. _Oh._ ”

Arthur’s smile widened, and he sat on the edge of the bed, already unlacing his trousers. “Like I said, you’ll have to make it up to me.”


End file.
